You already know what’s all the time fascinated me? The connection between Lord of the Rings On-line and Dungeons and Dragons On-line. These two MMOs are very very similar to siblings with the identical developer “mother and father” and a few shared DNA, but the pair are distinctly totally different in additional methods than not.
I’d be very to see SSG’s inside demographics displaying what share of LOTRO gamers get pleasure from DDO and vice-versa, as I’m certain it’s higher than zero. As somebody who mains LOTRO and sometimes dabbles in DDO, I felt compelled to reply a query that’s danced via my thoughts quite a lot of occasions: Is DDO a recreation that I’d advocate to LOTRO gamers?
It is a difficult query to reply as a result of in reality, these video games are fairly far aside in design and performance. But earlier than I get to their variations, let’s check out what they share as a result of that’s essential if you wish to deliver somebody over from a sister title.
LOTRO and DDO each function below SSG, draw from a widely known fantasy IP, and share a core recreation engine (albeit one which was modified drastically from one another). We all know that the 2 MMOs do share some developer, group supervisor, music, and engineering assets, though the precise overlap is stored secret by the studio. The 2 video games even have the identical web site and discussion board design, have experimented with particular server rulesets, are upgrading to 64-bit server tech, and — that is clearly a very powerful characteristic — boast day by day items.
I must also be aware that the 2 MMOs embraced a free-to-play mannequin early on, permitting gamers to earn premium foreign money to spend on content material and different retailer choices. That characteristic continues to set these video games aside within the style.
Nevertheless, that’s concerning the finish of their similarities. Any LOTRO participant wandering over to DDO pondering that this may function similarly as a so-called WoW-clone will discover him or herself splashing round in a pool of confusion. It’s because DDO isn’t actually like another MMO on the market, together with LOTRO. There’s a better barrier to entry as a neophyte should be taught the considerably sophisticated ins and outs of this distinctive title.
Dungeons and Dragons On-line attracts from an older D&D ruleset and has a fiendishly sophisticated character system that’s maybe probably the most obtuse within the MMO panorama. That additionally implies that an skilled and knowledgeable participant can create a splendidly wide selection of builds that’s solely restricted by the creativeness.
It’s additionally a recreation that’s, for probably the most half, centered round mission situations. These are normally extra concerned than your typical MMO dungeon, that includes a voiced “recreation grasp” narrator, puzzles, a lot of story and dialogue beats, lethal traps, and exploration. A few of these will be extremely brief, whereas others will take you an hour or extra to beat.
DDO does loads of different issues in a different way than the conventional crowd: It doesn’t enable gamers to mechanically regenerate well being, there are many conditions the place you will be one-shot, gear typically boasts sturdy talents connected to them, and a significant core gameplay loop is “reincarnating” your high-level character again to stage 1 as a way to achieve extra potential stat factors.
It’s not an computerized advice, is what I’m saying. DDO is an acquired style for a lot of, however one which when it is acquired can change into downright addicting. I discover its chunky graphics, weird mishmash of D&D marketing campaign settings, bizarre humor, and freeform character design refreshing in a sea of copycat MMORPGs.
It’s a title that’s price testing, as evidenced by how a lot we stream it right here on Massively OP, and I believe it’s simpler to persuade LOTRO gamers to provide it a strive on the premise of our familiarity with the developer. The sport is likely to be wildly divergent, however the ardour, ability, and quirks of the studio is one thing we Center-earth adventurers know all too nicely.
So sure, I might advocate DDO to just about everybody, together with LOTRO gamers, so long as you go into it understanding that it’s acquired a really totally different really feel and construction than different titles. Embrace the weirdness, and also you would possibly discover that it embraces you again. Otherwise you’ll hate it. I can’t predict your response, in any case.
Each two weeks, the LOTRO Legendarium goes on an journey (horrid issues, these) via the wondrous, terrifying, inspiring, and, nicely, legendary on-line world of Center-earth. Justin has been taking part in LOTRO since its launch in 2007! When you have a subject for the column, ship it to him at [email protected].
